The political reality is that the chances of Congress enacting more stimulus now is exceedingly remote.

"I think Obama has backed himself into a corner," he said Dean Baker, co-director at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. "It will be difficult for him to push stimulus given his debt reduction rhetoric."

The steps Obama outlined Friday should help the economy, but Baker said any large-scale government support for the job market is more or less off the table.

"That would be the reasonable thing to do, but doesn't seem to be in the cards," he said.